VacationSelector
Sint Servaasbrug over the Maas, Maastricht
MaastrichtSint Servaasbrug over the Maas
The Dzhumaya Mosque, Plovdiv
PlovdivThe Dzhumaya Mosque

Photos: Maastricht by Michielverbeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Plovdiv by Ad Meskens, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Maastricht or Plovdiv?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Maastricht for

  • shopping
  • families
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Maastricht’s own page.

Choose Plovdiv for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Plovdiv’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Maastricht 8, Plovdiv 7: Maastricht leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. Maastricht 58, Plovdiv 50: Maastricht leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Maastricht 60, Plovdiv 66: Plovdiv leads by 6 points.
Nightlife. Maastricht and Plovdiv are level on 42.
Nature & outdoors. Maastricht 58, Plovdiv 68: Plovdiv leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Maastricht 77, Plovdiv 70: Maastricht leads by 7 points.
Good for families. Maastricht 55, Plovdiv 40: Maastricht leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Maastricht 74, Plovdiv 65: Maastricht leads by 9 points.
Shopping & style. Maastricht 60, Plovdiv 33: Maastricht leads by 27 points.
Affordability. Maastricht 38, Plovdiv 78: Plovdiv leads by 40 points.
Live music & performing arts. Maastricht 40, Plovdiv 42: Plovdiv leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Maastricht 52, Plovdiv 44: Maastricht leads by 8 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Maastricht and Plovdiv.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Maastricht
52match

Wins on shopping and families with your weighting.

Plovdiv
50match

Wins on prices and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Maastricht in July

24 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
73 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Plovdiv in July

31 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
44 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
MaastrichtPlovdiv

Where the figures come from

Plovdiv has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Plovdiv's sunshine is measured 75 km from the centre, at Kurdjali.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Maastricht: 1991-2020 normals, Maastricht Airport Zuid Limburg (10 km from centre). Plovdiv: 1997-2020 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Plovdiv (1.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMaastrichtPlovdiv
Official languageDutchBulgarian
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation49 m172 m
Main airportMaastricht Aachen Airport (MST)9 km from centre5 non-stop destinationsPlovdiv International Airport (PDV)12 km from centre8 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days15 days

By the numbers

MeasureMaastrichtPlovdiv
City population120,227333,994
People per km²2,0003,274
Museums within 10 km2118
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km50

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Maastricht or Plovdiv somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.